Asia Bibi in good health, says lawyer

Blasphemy accused, Pakistani Christian woman Asia Noreen Bibi who is on a death row, is reportedly in good health.

In keeping with details, Advocate Saif-ul-Malook-the Defence counsel of Asia Bibi and Ashiq Masih her husband recently paid a visit to Multan’s women’s prison where Asia Bibi is confined.

Botth the men, met with Asia Bibi on October 21, in her separate chamber called a “death cell.” “Only family of the inmate or the lawyer representing the convict can visit the chamber, so Ashiq and I went together to see her. Inmates on death row are separated and locked into an 8 by 10 feet chamber called a death cell,” Advocate Saif-ul-Malook said.

“There are three death cells in this prison and Asia is the only death convict, so two cells are empty. She has been given one servant who sits outside the lockup for any help,” Saif-ul-Malook said.

“Asia is probably the only prisoner in Pakistan who has been given a TV set in her cell. She looked healthy and normal, but I still asked her if she suffered any serious illness.

“Asia has totally denied she ever suffered any serious illness since 2009 in prison. She became happy when I told her that she would soon be released,” he said while adding, “There are no men in the prison, and one extra female police officer is deployed outside her chamber so that her security could be ensured.”

Moreover, Saif-ul-Malook explained that the Deputy-Superintendent of police was along with them during their meeting with Asia Bibi . On the other hand, Ashiq Masih narrated to the World Watch Monitor that when he visited his wife, Asia Bibi along with Saif-ul-Malook; none of his daughters were with them. “I could see ‘a glimmer of hope’ on Noreen’s face,” he said.

Conversely, the reports blurted out by Saif-ul-Malook are sharply in defiance of the reports aired by many international NGO’s and Fides which quoted an anonymous Pakistani government official as affirming that Asia Bibi “was vomiting blood last month and was having difficulty walking.” Moreover, a prominent Pakistani Christian lawyer and activist Sardar Mushtaq Gill was reported saying that Asia Bibi’s “life is in danger because of her health.”

In addition to this, Fides reported, one of a kinsman of Asia Bibi saying that, “we were told that her health condition had worsened at one time but she was recovering now.”

What’s more, the Global Dispatch reported that, “Asia Bibi is suffering from intestinal bleeding.” It was reported that when her family visited her at the end of May, they dismally found that she was “so weak she can hardly walk.”

50-year-old, Asia Bibi has been on death row since she was accused of committing blasphemy in June 2009 by her fellow-workers. Session’s Court in District Nankana, ruled capital punishment for Asia Bibi in 2010. Her defence lawyers filed an appeal against the decision while she remained in police custody since then. However, on July 22, the Supreme Court of Pakistan temporarily halted her execution, citing a lack of evidence against her.